"Really grand content! Well thought out, well presented, and a fantastic supplement to any campaign... Highly recommended!" -- Critical Role creator Matt Mercer.
Now updated with new archetypes, new spells, and new feats as a thank you to customers, Ravenloft Archetypes: Nightmares of Barovia presents thirteen new subclasses as well as new spells, new monsters, new subraces, and more for the Curse of Strahd storyline and other 5th Edition D&D games set in the Domains of Dread and beyond. NEW: Get a full review on the Going Last podcast or read a thorough analysis on their website!
Portraying heroes with a dark side — from vampiric paladins to warlocks empowered by the Dark Powers that rule Ravenloft itself — these character options are written to emphasize themes of fantasy horror, yet be playable in any setting. New class archetypes contain not just rules, but full subclass descriptions and setting material to help you or your players role-play these new archetypes to the hilt:
- The Path of the Sea Reaver: Barbarian raiders who strike from the sea to sow terror and chaos before fading into the night.
- NEW: The College of Disquiet: These bards are poets of dread and terror, weaving curses and gathering lore from their insight into others' darkest fears.
- NEW: The Hunting Domain**: Clerics of hunting deities have divine senses that guide them to their prey and make them powerful archers.
- NEW: Circle of the Equinox**: This druid's ties to the changing seasons and the fey courts cause their abilities to alter with the times.
- The Slayer: This fighter makes the hunters the hunted, waging war against the monsters who prey upon the innocent.
- NEW: Way of the Boundless Mind**: Telepathic monks who hide their psychic powers among uncomprehending populations, even in the shadow of Strahd's own domain.
- The Oath of Blood: Paladins infected with vampirism who fight back their curse with divine power and unshakeable devotion to their cause.
- The Stalker: Rangers equally at home in the city or the wilderness who use unequalled powers of observation to act as investigators, spies, and vigilantes.
- The Tomb Robber*: This rogue archaeologist is a raider of the lost tomb and trap-filled ruin who masters scholarly lore and wields a whip or other distinctive weapon to recover historical relics.
- The Reanimated**: Some sorcerers are not born or made-- they are remade, returned to life by forbidden alchemy and the power of lightning with Frankenstein-inspired abilities to gain the strength of a flesh golem, but also risk succumbing to its mindless rage.
- The Dark Powers: Warlocks of this patron dare to make pacts with the Dark Powers of the Shadowfell and Ravenloft who gave Strahd Von Zarovich and the other Dark Lords their power... and their torment.
- NEW: Pact of the Gloom**: These warlocks weave a cloak of shadow itself to hide them from danger and let them strike with stealth.
- The School of Alienism*: Wizards who learn eldritch secrets that would blast a weaker mind, all to steal even more forbidden knowledge from unknowable entities outside space and time.
- Bonus: The College of Secrets**, a newly improved bard archetype from the previous edition.
Far more than just character options, this 67-page PDF also includes:
- New Monsters: In addition to creatures from the sinister Barovian Scarecrow to the sagacious Vistani Tutor, conversions of the classic race-based vampire types from 2nd Edition D&D — such as the elf vampire, the dwarf vampire, and more — boast strange new powers and weaknesses adventurers will never see coming.
- New Subraces: Dusk Elves: as seen in Curse of Strahd, these secretive elves are added as a bonus for everyone who helped this product reach Electrum level sales, and supplements the variant Vistani human and the battle-scarred, paranoid Crag Dwarves already included.
- New Spells: Now with 32 new spells! One or more new spells for every single spellcasting class, including blood curse, dread mercy, punishing strike, and more!
A content-packed resource for players and DM's alike, Ravenloft Archetypes: Nightmares of Barovia is a must-have for campaigns set in Barovia or any of the other Dark Domains of Ravenloft, and a sinister treasure trove of darkly unique characters, monsters, and magic for any D&D 5th Edition game.
*=An archetype adapted from the author's previous DM's Guild title, Al-Qadim Archetypes: Scimitars Against the Dark.
**=An archetype shared with the sequel to this product, Ravenloft Archetypes II: Core Domains Adventurers Guide.
This living document will continue to improve based on your feedback, adding new content available at no extra cost to previous purchasers! The Reanimated Sorcerer, Hunting Domain Cleric, Equinox Druid, Vistani Tutor, Dusk Elves, and many, many new spells and feats have already been added as thanks for taking us to Copper, Silver, Electrum, Gold, and Platinum sales levels!
If you think this product could be improved, please leave a review, star-rating, or comment-- all input is read and considered, and could show up in a newer version of the product!
If you enjoy this product, please check out these and other bestselling DM's Guild titles by author Jeremy Forbing:



CHANGE LOG
Ver2.0: The most major update so far! The platinum update adds several new archetypes (bringing the total to 13, including the new appendix, with at least one for every class), bringing the number of new spells up to 32, several new feats, making several upgrades to archetypes (including splitting the previous new Bardic College into two better and more focused bard archetypes) and incorporating all the most recent input from purchasers. It also now includes a primer with basic info on the Ravenloft, and special setting info on Barovia, make this an even better supplement for games set in that domain. Much of the new content is from Ravenloft Archetypes II: Core Domains Adventurers Guide (which has over twice as much content as well), bringing the approach to both products in line with each other and increasing their compatibility. Thanks for purchasing this product earlier in its life-cycle; your financial support made these and other upgrades possible!
Ver1.X: Includes a new archetype-- a Sorcerous Origin for Frankenstein-inspired reanimated PCs-- to give you a peek at my work on a major revision and addition of new content for the whole document. Eventually, this will be included in one big revised edition, but for now this should tide you over while I work to assess and, if necessary, address any valid rules concerns I've received from feedback. Until then, this and more to come are my thanks for helping take Ravenloft Archetypes: Nightmares of Barovia to the gold level!
Ver 1.4: MAJOR NEW CONTENT added! Added Dusk Elves and more art, thanks to everyone who helped take this product to Electrum level! Also, more attempts to accommodate customer feedback on the College of Secrets Bard and Ranger Stalker, while still keeping the basic structure of those classes functional.
Ver 1.3: MAJOR UPDATE. Changes to most archetypes to simplify abilities and address balance concerns. Overhaul to art/layout, including lots of new art. Alterations to Vistani human variant clarifying its use. Big changes to features for College of Secrets Bards and Stalker Rangers. Added content described above.
Ver 1.2 - Simplifies language in Antiquarian features, fixes more typos, adds more evocative description to Dark Powers Warlock Patron, and corrects the author's inexplicable failure to properly spell his own last name.
Ver 1.11 - Fixes minor typos and removes an anamolous reference to Kara-Tur (which is awesome, but not part of Ravenloft).